WHEN Alexander Dumas penned his classic novel I doubt if he had the remotest idea that it would eventually become a manic stage comedy. Quite what he would have made of a tap-dancing postman, a rag-doll king, a war in which foam balls are hurled at the audience and a missing ‘golden croissant’ is anybody’s guess, but these and many more quirky events made All Saints’ season opener a thoroughly amusing evening.

Despite one momentary hiccup when the musketeers themselves (hilariously played by Tony Edwards, Laurie Patey and Richard Fudge) were - presumably - fighting battles en route to the stage, leaving a bemused Rochefort (Tony Lock) waiting patiently for their arrival, Lesley Lock’s production was fast and furious.

Sets and costumes were superb and the entire cast threw themselves wholeheartedly into their task. Particularly impressive were the sword-fighting scenes – take a bow fight choreographer Laurie Patey – and Simon Truick’s D’Artagnan was a convincingly swashbuckling hero. There were excellent characterisations too from Lucy Smith (Constance Bonicieux), Louisa Blakey (Milady de Winter) and Mark Andrews (Cardinal Richelieu), but it was Martyn French as the ‘French cast’ who deservedly stole the show. He played ten different characters both male and female and with a variety of accents, and brought the house down.

Linda Kirkman
Courtesy of the Bournemout Daily Echo